David Meyler has revealed he was at the centre of a dressing room row before coming off the bench to help Hull City salvage a 1-1 draw with Sunderland.

Meyler was City’s saviour on Saturday as his 82nd minute equaliser cancelled out James Vaughan’s first-half opener to ensure the Tigers avoided a third-straight loss in the Championship.

Head coach Leonid Slutsky called Meyler the catalyst for a second-half turnaround at the KCOM Stadium but City’s half-time substitute has revealed strong words exchanged at the break began the fightback.

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“It’s very difficult for me to criticise the first half when I was sitting on the bench,” said Meyler. “I know from experience that the lads are out there trying their hardest but it didn’t work out.

“Things were said at half-time and it got a bit heated. I suppose I’ll take most of the responsibility. A few things were said but sometimes they need to be. You need to clear the air. You could tell from the second-half performance there was a reaction.

“We’re all in this together. We’ve got young lads who are learning their trade and we’ve got other ones, more experienced. We’ve got to find the blend and the second half was the start of it.

“To do it just for 45 minutes is not good enough. We have to be in together for the 90 minutes. We’ve got 38 games to go and there’s a lot of points to play for. Our target is still to be promoted.”

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City will head to the Madejski Stadium having won just one of their last six Championship games, including three straight away defeats.

“If I’m going to be honest and call a spade a spade, it’s been an average start,” added Meyler. “There’s no point in pretending it’s going well. It’s certainly not going poorly. It could be better, that’s why I’d say average.

“The signs are there but they’re glimpses. Once we nail it down I think we can be a force to be reckoned with.”